This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Ford's biggest hurdle was all mental

On the road to returning to the NBA after nearly two months away, T.J.
Ford ran into his detours of doubt. He thought about retirement more
than once. And calling it a career at age 24, with a guaranteed contract worth about $30 million as his security blanket, certainly could have been a comfortable option. But when Ford considered calling it quits, he would glimpse the basketball court in the backyard of his suburban Houston home.

Toronto Raptors, left to right, Rasho Nesterovic, Andrea Bargnani, T.J. Ford and Chris Bosh prepare to play the Miami Heat on Feb. 4, 2008. Ford returned to the team after a 24-game absence and played just under 17 minutes in a 114-82 win. (MARK SEROTA / REUTERS)

MIAMI-On the road to returning to the NBA after nearly two months away, T.J. Ford ran into his detours of doubt. He thought about retirement more than once.

And calling it a career at age 24, with a guaranteed contract worth about $30 million as his security blanket, certainly could have been a comfortable option.

But when Ford considered calling it quits, he would glimpse the basketball court in the backyard of his suburban Houston home.

"I would look at that court and I would think, even though I could retire if I wanted to, I still would play basketball," said Ford. "I'm at the same risk playing in my backyard that I am playing on this court, I feel. So that helped me understand it.

"I'm still young. It doesn't make sense to quit something I've worked so hard at to get to this level. To come back down and play at somebody else's level?"

Article Continued Below

In other words, if Ford wasn't at American Airlines Arena last night, playing in his first NBA game since he was taken off the floor on a stretcher on Dec. 11, he probably would have been looking for a game somewhere else.

Still, Ford, who has been diagnosed with a congenital narrowing of the spine that leaves him at greater risk for spinal injuries than the average person, said coming back from his most recent brush with injury – a crash landing in Atlanta that left him with a painful tingling throughout much of his upper body – was his most difficult obstacle to date.

That's saying a lot for a young man who staged an epic comeback from 2004 vertebrae-fusing surgery that saw him on the NBA sidelines for a year and a half.

"The mental side was definitely harder this time," he said. "Once you've been through it before, it's like, `I've got to do it all over again? I don't know if I want to do it all over again.' Because you can't short-cut it."

The man the Raptors hired to preside over Ford's rehab, former NBA coach and point guard John Lucas, a long-time friend whom Ford considers family, wouldn't allow Ford to short-cut it.

Under Lucas's tutelage, in the spartan digs of a Houston-area recreation centre, Ford endured a basketball boot camp that broke his body down to build it up.

"We did old, old, old-school stuff," said Lucas, who went on to describe the rigours of crabwalks up and down stairwells and court-length wheelbarrow races in which Ford's hands did the running.

The Raptors have been impressed enough with Lucas's work that they're contemplating hiring him in a consultant's role to continue to help Ford's transition back into the lineup.

Lucas seemed enthused by the prospect. "Any way I can help, and help T.J., I'm happy to help. ... I think Chris Bosh has MVP potential. I love to be around guys that want to be stars."

Said Ford of Lucas, with whom he works out during the off-season: "Injured or not injured, he's my guy that I put trust in to get to that next level."

On the long journey to the next level, of course, Ford had to find the will to take the first step: The one over the out-of-bounds line on to the floor.

"I pushed him to try to quit, for one reason: To see how badly he wanted to play," said Lucas. "And at the end of it all, that's what his response was, `I want to play.'"

Ford wants to play, in front of the throngs or in the backyard, for a long time to come.

"This is what I love to do. It is worth it to me. If I didn't love to do it, it would be easier to shut it down," said Ford. "Besides, if I got hurt and I retired, y'all got one more report to write about me, and then I'm done. ... Can't let y'all forget about me that easily."

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com